Athletics at Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles have a chance to get back in the American League East race when they kick off a 10-game homestand against the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. The Orioles are coming off a 4-5 road trip that ended with a thud on Wednesday when they were no-hit by Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma to drop into fourth place in the division.
"It's not just a normal loss," Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones said after the latest setback. "We're going down in the history books on the bad side of a no-hitter." The Orioles, who trail AL East-leading Toronto by 5 1/2 games after leading the red-hot Blue Jays by one game on Aug. 1, are 32-20 at Camden Yards. The Athletics couldn't get out of Toronto fast enough, swept in three games and outscored 18-7 following Thursday's 4-2 setback. Oakland's pitching is in disarray after ace Sonny Gray had to be scratched Thursday due to back spasms, necessitating the need to move Friday's scheduled starter, Jesse Chavez, up one day.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, CSN California (Oakland), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics LH Brad Mills (2014: 1-1, 9.15 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Ubaldo Jimenez (9-7, 3.79)
Mills pitched decently in three starts with the Athletics last year, going 1-1 and notching back-to-back quality outings before he was traded to Toronto. He had a pair of disastrous relief stints three weeks apart with the Blue Jays, getting bludgeoned for 13 runs over 4 1/3 innings. He was 4-11 with a 4.45 ERA at Triple-A Nashville this season and was shelled in his last two starts, but is 3-0 lifetime versus Baltimore.
Jimenez is coming off his best performance of the season, blanking the Los Angeles Angels on two hits over eight innings to move within three wins of 100 for his career. It was a much-needed bounce-back effort for the 31-year-old Dominican, who had surrendered at least six runs in three of his previous four turns. Jimenez has made five career starts against the Athletics, logging a 3-1 mark and 4.91 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Orioles RF Gerardo Parra, acquired from Milwaukee at the trade deadline, is 3-for-22 over the past five games.
2. Athletics 3B Danny Valencia had his six-game hitting streak and five-game RBI string halted in Thursday's loss.
3. Orioles 3B Manny Machado, who owns a career .311 batting average versus Oakland, has hit safely in eight of the last nine games.